Journal of US-China Public Administration, June 2017, Vol. 14, No. 6, 339-347 doi: 10.17265/1548-6591/2017.06.005 D DAVID PUBLISHING Curriculum Reform at Tertiary Level as Key to Graduate Employability and Entrepreneurship in Lesotho T. Mukurunge, N. Tlali Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Maseru, Lesotho The curriculum in Lesotho at tertiary level does not adequately prepare graduates for the employment world, nor for self-made business people. The main emphasis is theoretical and academic excellence rather than for production in industry or for empowerment with entrepreneurial skills. This is a problem because Lesotho does not have an industrial power base for the economy to employ a big number of tertiary graduates. The industries that offer employment to citizens are mainly the Chinese-owned textile industries and taxi/transport industry, or the South African mines and farms which require cheap labour and not tertiary graduates. Lesotho therefore requires an education that produces graduates who can create employment for other primarily or highly skilled technocrats who will be able to be employed above the level of mere labourers in the sophisticated economy of South Africa. This study therefore sought to establish what the Ministry of Education and tertiary institutions are doing about this scenario, whether they have plans for curriculum review that will be aligned towards producing entrepreneurs and technocrats for the economic development of Lesotho. This research will benefit the authorities responsible for development through small businesses, the employment sector, as well as tertiary institutions in curriculum review. Keywords: curriculum, curriculum review, entrepreneurship, tertiary institutions, technocrats Curriculum is a planned and guided learning experiences carried out in the institution for the purpose of living a useful and productive life in our contemporary society today (Ogwu, Omeje, & Nwokenna, 2014, p. 44). Graduate employability means that higher education alumni have developed the capacity to obtain and create work (Kinash, 2015, p. 1). Furthermore, employability means that institutions and employers have supported the student knowledge, skills, attributes, reflective disposition, and identity that graduates need to succeed in the workforce (Hinchliffe & Jolly, 2011; Holmes, 2013; Knight & Yorke, 2004; Yorke, 2006; Yorke & Knight, 2006 in Kinash, 2015, p. 1). Ogwu et al. (2014, p. 44) writing about the situation in Nigeria which is applicable to Lesotho said that the academic bias of curricula has been blamed in many countries for divorcing education from the world of work. Because of this academic bias, people who would normally have gone into some productive activity turn to fruitless search for white–collar employment and most countries’ productive sectors can no longer support the expansion of white-collar employment (Ogwu et al., 2014, p. 44). The academic type of curricula in this case, caters for the needs of a small minority who are likely to end up in Corresponding author: T. Mukurunge, Master of Arts in Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Communication Media and Broadcast, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Maseru, Lesotho; research fields: education, science & technology, social sciences, media & journalism, human rights. N. Tlali, Master of Science in Sociology, Faculty of Communication Media and Broadcast, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Maseru, Lesotho; research fields: sociology, journalism, science & technology, education, human rights. 340 KEY TO GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN LESOTHO professional jobs (Ogwu et al., 2014, p. 44). It therefore is in the light of this observation that this study sees the need to examine the structural reforms in Lesotho curriculum in order to determine a way forward. Entrepreneurship is the sacrifice by an individual to start their own business enterprise and is classified into many types (e.g. agricultural, social, global, large company, scalable start-up, trading, and industrial) (Baker, 2015, p. 4). Most education systems in the formerly colonized developing and underdeveloped economies reflect a pattern whereby citizens are geared to acquire an education that would neatly cut them out for the world of employment, primarily as civil servants, rather than empowering them with skills to enable them to start their own businesses. This is detrimental to economies such as that of Lesotho where industry is very minimal and most university graduates cannot secure employment in the country, because the civil service cannot absorb everyone, unless they venture and melt into the well-established economy of South Africa. Universities and other tertiary institutions in Lesotho should therefore seriously contemplate an education system that, on paper and practice, should emphasize a paradigm shift from a well-read bookish product to someone with the mindset to start a business and employ others. In a report to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the UN Secretary General presented that entrepreneurship (the activity of setting up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit) has offered the opportunity to many of the world’s poor to earn a sustainable livelihood. Entrepreneurship represents a sizeable engine of decent employment generation and can provide an important contribution to sustainable development by creating jobs and driving the economic growth and innovation, fostering local economic development, improving social conditions, and contributing to addressing environmental challenges (United Nations, 2014, p. 1). European Commission (2016, p. 2), in setting a skills agenda for Europe, wrote that skills are a pathway to employability and prosperity. With the right skills, people are equipped for good-quality jobs and can fulfil their potential as confident, active citizens. The European Commission (2016, p. 2) continued to write that in a fast-changing global economy, skills will to a great extent determine competitiveness and the capacity to drive innovation, and they are a pull factor for investment and a catalyst in the virtuous circle of job creation and growth and they are key to social cohesion. UNEVOC (2013, p. 8) said that skills acquisition is necessary for industrial development and there is need to accord full and committed attention to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), for the realization of economic and industrial development, and to provide a basis for maintaining competitive advantage. UNEVOC (2013, p. 8) emphasized on the need to revitalize and promote regional integration, assuring that young people are equipped with social and market-related skills which will enable them to be well-integrated young adults as well as competitive at national, sub-regional, and global levels. In the new global economy, young people need to acquire more than just basic education, and the current rate of globalization and regional integration should influence curricula (UNEVOC, 2013, p. 8). The UNEVOC (2013, p. 8) document went on to say that investing in education and skills development for young people should go beyond increasing basic literacy rates to assure dynamic, multifaceted knowledge-building at higher and tertiary levels, including TVET, but should go a long way in preparing young people for the evolving labour market. The Lesotho Council on Higher Education (CHE) policy states that its aim is to ensure that Lesotho’s higher education system produces graduates with the knowledge, skills, and values to contribute to the nation’s KEY TO GRADUATE EMPLOYABILITY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN LESOTHO 341 development, as well as the capacity to respond to challenges and exploit opportunities that will arise in the future. For this to happen, there is a need for Basotho to forge a shared understanding of the shape, size, and purpose of the higher education system that is required to meet the nation’s needs (Council on Higher Education, 2013, p. x). It is in line with the above observations that this study would like to establish the position of the Lesotho education system at tertiary level with regards to its alignment to these new trends of graduate entrepreneurship, employment creation and matching of new market trends. Statement of the Problem The education system in Lesotho suffers the colonial legacy of educating people for the purpose of acquiring an education that qualifies the graduates to be mere employees, particularly in the civil service, rather than the acquisition of skills that will lead graduates to create jobs for themselves and for others. This education system should undergo a paradigm shift in order to create graduate entrepreneurs who will create jobs for themselves and others thereby driving economic development at national level. Study Objectives This study sought to establish how much tertiary institutions are driving the agenda of imparting entrepreneurial skills in their graduates for the creation of a business-minded generation as well as to influence tertiary education policy makers to shift towards training tertiary students to be skilled in job creation and drive national economic development through tertiary graduates’ entrepreneurial skills. Research Questions (1) What is the current higher education policy for Lesotho on the training of entrepreneurial skills? (2) To what extent is entrepreneurship being imparted and inculcated in tertiary students in Lesotho? (3) How effective are graduates of entrepreneurship
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